Hunted
by LJ Squeaks
Summary: A killer has been picking up victims in bars but when he takes one of the BAU, he finds himself the hunted instead of the hunter. Reid & JJ fic. No Will. Sorry JJ/Will people but I don't really like him. Please R&R.
1. The Hunt

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters from Criminal Minds.

Chapter 1

The Hunt

He creeps through the bar with immense efficiency. His target has already been picked, identified in the crowd. Her blond hair flows gracefully around her shoulders and the way she holds herself while challenging the others to a game of darts lures him in. She doesn't know the men, he knows that much, having seen her when she entered. They were simply men she had met at the bar who seemed up to a challenge. She throws a winning hit and then moves back to the bar. He sweeps in carefully beside her and orders a shot of vodka. He brings the drink up to his lips and gives her a small wink as he pours the liquid down his throat. She smiles as she throws back her own drink.

"Hi there." She says. Her eyes run over his face… high brow, piercing grey eyes, and perfectly sculpted jaw. He is impressive. When he talks, it is smooth and charming.

"Hello." He says, smiling. "What brings you here?"

"Rough week at work." The woman says. "Needed to forget for a little."

"I guess we all do sometimes." He says. "How about some coffee?" He smiles. He's so close. All she has to do is say yes. "Come on, I'll pay. It's better than drowning your sorrows in vodka." She signs, running a hand through her blond hair.

"Yeah, you're right." The blond says. "Coffee would be nice… but I'm paying for my own." He smirks as they leave the bar. Finally.


	2. The Call

Chapter 2

The Call

Aaron Hotchner rolled over to reach for his cell phone as it went off. His wife, Hailey, grabs his side. He shrugs her off and answers.

"Aaron Hotchner." Hotch says. There is a cackling sound on the other end of the phone. "Who is this?"

"That doesn't matter right now." The voice on the other end of the phone says. "I have her, Mr. Hotchner…"

"Who do you have?" Hotch asks. There is a pause. Hotch tenses as he runs a list of people through his head. Since Hailey is in bed, he jumps to the team. Prentiss, Garcia, JJ… or Hailey's sister. Maybe no one he knows.

"You don't need to know that." The voice says. It sends a shiver down Hotch's spine. Hailey notices at wraps her arms around him. "All you need to know is that I have her and I don't really want to give her back. Listen." He hears the phone move and then a light breathing.

"Hotch… it's okay." The woman on the other end of the phone says. Hotch's eyes go wide.

"She really is quite brave, isn't she." The man says. "Goodbye, Hotch." The line goes dead. Hotch darts up from the bed.

"Aaron?" Hailey asks.

"I have to go." Hotch says. Hailey gets up. "I'm so sorry, Hailey."

"Aaron, what's going on? Who was that?" Hailey asks. The panic is evident in her voice. Hotch freezes. "Aaron?" He turns to her.

"I have to go to the office. I will call you as soon as I know anything. I promise." Hotch says. "Hailey, you know I wouldn't do this if it wasn't important."


	3. The Bad News

Chapter 3

The Bad News

Morgan looks up from his desk groggily as Rossi walks in, wearing only jeans and a t-shirt, obviously not expecting the late night phone call. Hotch descends from his office. Reid and Emily glance at him. He looks tired, in casual clothing. A last minute thing, Hotch was in a hurry to get to work.

"This better be important, Aaron." Rossi says, clearly annoyed. "None of us have gotten much sleep this last week."

"It's important." Hotch says. Rossi sighs, half in relief that he wasn't called in for nothing, half in concern as to what was important. "It's very important."

"Hotch what's going on?" Morgan asks. Hotch doesn't answer. Reid twirls a pencil in his hand.

"Where's Garcia?" Hotch asks. His voice is weary but still tough. The tech waves from the conference room doorway.

"Right here, Hotch." Garcia says. Hotch moves towards the room.

"We need to get started." Hotch says.

"What about JJ?" Emily asks. Hotch goes silent. He looks grim. A frown falls over his features as he struggles to speak. "Hotch? What about JJ?" Finally Hotch lets out a breath.

"JJ isn't coming." Hotch says. The way the words sound as they leave his mouth immediately sends the team into shock. Reid drops his pencil. Rossi and Morgan are both suddenly alert. Emily frowns and Garcia grips the door frame to stay standing.

A/N: I know the chapters are short but be patient, they'll get longer as we go into the story. Also, thanks for the reviews. I love hearing what you guys think, it keeps me writing. :)


	4. The Hunter and the Prey

Chapter 4

The Hunter

JJ struggles against the chains that bind her hands and feet. A simple meeting at a bar has turned into a meeting with fate. She falls limp against the wall, feet and legs dirty from being rubbed against the filth-ridden floor. The loose shirt she wears is torn from its battle with the wall as she tried to escape. She pushes the thoughts of the man's torture from her mind as she resumes the pointless attempts to escape. Suddenly, the door opens and the man walks down the steps, his boots clanging against the metal. 'Metal stairs…' she thinks. 'Where has metal stairs?' He appears in front of her, showered and cleaned from when she last saw him.

"Well don't you look pretty." He says, stroking her cheeks. She bites his hand and he slaps her. "Now, I'm going out to get you some food but don't get any ideas. I've left some of my dogs at the top in case you try to run." His lips turn up in a twisted smile. JJ shudders. Her mind instantly goes back to Hankel case and the dogs in the barn. She closes her eyes. He leans in to kiss her cheek. She slams her head against his.

"Back off!" JJ shouts. He grabs her shoulders and roughly pushes her against the wall. Her head slams against the concrete and she groans. A twisted smile adorns his lips once again as JJ's world fades to black.


	5. The Case

Chapter 5

The Case

Erin Strauss sits with the team in the conference room. She frowns as she examines the team. Morgan taps his fingers on the desk.

"I'm assigning another team to the case." Strauss says. Morgan stops his tapping and stares at Strauss.

"Like hell you are." Morgan says. Rossi grabs the younger man's shoulder, a silent tell to relax. Morgan shrugs it off. "This is our case."

"You're too attached, Agent Morgan. I can't let you work this case." Strauss says. Rossi looks up at her.

"Can I speak with you outside?" Rossi asks. Strauss nods and follows him out of the room. The others look to the window. "Look, Erin, I know this is bad but we need to take this. You know that there isn't anyone better than us. This is the best team you have, even if we don't have Jennifer."

"That's not it, Dave." Strauss says. "I'm not allowed to do this. You aren't allowed to work this case." Rossi throws his hands up in the air.

"To hell with what we're allowed to do, Erin!" Rossi shouts. He takes a deep breath, regaining his calm persona. "JJ's family… it's like she said when she shot Battle. You do whatever it takes to protect your family."

"I'm aware how important Agent Jareau…." Strauss starts.

"JJ." Rossi corrects. Erin sighs. "You're trying to detach yourself. It's personal, Erin. This guy has JJ. Jennifer Jareau… the blond haired, blue eyed wonder of our little group." Strauss grimaces. "The one who keeps us all together when we feel like everything is falling apart. She's our heart, our soul and we _need_ her back." Strauss sighs.

"Dave, I'm aware how important JJ is to you, to the team." Strauss says. "I can't…" Rossi just looks at her. She sighs. "Dammit, Dave, you better find her alive… I shouldn't be doing this and it's my career on the line if you mess it up."


	6. The Search Begins

Chapter 6

The Search Begins

Rossi enters the room and the team looks at him. He nods and Hotch immediately gets up to explain the situation.

"So about one hour ago I received a phone call on my cell phone." Hotch says. He looks to Garcia.

"I couldn't find out who the phone belonged to. It was most likely disposable. I'm trying to make a time line of where JJ was last night so that I can figure out how far our UnSub made it with her." Garcia says.

"Let me know once you have it." Hotch orders. Garcia retreats to her office.

"Can you tell me what the man said?" Reid asks.

"Um. That it didn't matter who he was and that he had her…" Hotch says.

"Did say her or did he use her name?" Reid asks.

"He said her. I asked who he had and he told me that I didn't need to know that. That all I needed know was that he had her and he didn't want to give her back." Hotch says.

"He didn't mention a ransom?" Rossi asks. Hotch shakes his head. "That's never good." The pencil in Morgan's hand snaps. Emily's head shoots up.

"Derek?" Emily asks. He doesn't answer. She sighs and turns to Reid. "So what do you think?" Reid thinks for a moment.

"He obviously wants to be in control." Reid says.

"He let me talk to her… well, her talk to me." Hotch says. Reid and Emily's heads snap back towards Hotch.

"What did she say?" Reid asks. Hotch falls back into his chair, hitting his hand on the table. "Hotch, I know it's hard."

"No, what's hard is that you don't even seem shaken that JJ is gone!" Hotch yells. Reid cowers. All of a sudden, he breaks down. "Reid?" Reid flees from the room. Garcia returns just as he is leaving.

"What's his deal?" Garcia asks. Morgan sighs. "I've got the time line, it wasn't hard, she used her credit card all night.." Morgan nods and takes the sheet

"Baby girl, go talk to Reid. He's probably in JJ's office. Tell him, I'm going to get the rest of the phone call from Hotch and I'll bring it by later." Morgan says. Garcia nods and heads toward JJ's office.


	7. The Attempt

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get a chapter up. I had serious writers block but to make it up to you, I'm putting two chapters up and should have another one up by tomorrow.

Chapter 7

The Attempt

JJ slowly opens her eyes. Her head is pounding. She is no longer chained to the wall. Her captor throws some bread into her cell and rolls her a bottle of water. She pushes it away.

"Now don't be like that." Her captor says. He opens the door to her cell and enters. She shrinks back against the wall. He picks up the bottle, opens it, and takes a drink. He then sets it back down and JJ scurries to grab it. She twists off the cap and pours the water down her dry throat. "There you go." She screws the cap back on the bottle and struggles to her feet. She throws the bottle at his head and makes a run for it. He regains his composure and follows after her. She can hear his boots as they pound on the metal stairs. She rushes through the door, squinting in the harsh sunlight. In front of her are three large Dobermans. They jump at her and she screams. She is knocked to the ground and throws her arms up over her face as the dogs bite at her. There is a loud whistle and the dogs back off. Her captor moves up behind her. "That was a very stupid move." He grabs her arms and she winces in pain. "You brought it upon yourself." He drags her back down into the cellar and throws her in her cage. She cries out as her arms scrape against the concrete. He slides a first aid kit into the cell and locks the door. JJ rests her head back against the wall and pulls the first aid kit closer to her with her foot.


	8. The Talk

A/N: Here's the other chapter as promised. Enjoy.

Chapter 8

The Talk

Garcia pulls open the door to JJ's office. Reid is curled up in JJ's chair, looking at the picture from their 'top secret' first date. He lets out a muffled whimper as he sets it down on the desk. Garcia carefully moves towards the young genius.

"Reid…" Garcia says. He looks up at her, eyes red. "Are you okay?"

"She argued me on the top secret thing, you know." Reid says.

"No, but that definitely sounds like our little Jayje." Garcia says. "So, why did you want it top secret?"

"I thought she was ashamed to go out with me so I told her it could be just between us." Reid says. "I thought she would want it that way. So when she said she wanted to tell the others, I was shocked."

"JJ could never be ashamed of you Reid." Garcia says. She looks at the picture. JJ is in a Redskins jersey and Reid is wearing a t-shirt and jeans. JJ has leaned over to give Reid a kiss and Reid has a goofy smile on his face.

"I know that now." Reid says. "Back there…" Garcia places a finger to his lips and shakes her head.

"No, you don't have to explain." Garcia says. "Reid, you hide in your brain because it hurts less and that's what you were trying to do back there. Hotch shouldn't have reacted like that. You hide because you care, not because you don't. This hurts you, I know it does but you're not alone."

"I never told JJ that I love her." Reid says. "I should have done it after the Hankel case.  
There were so many chances."

"Don't you dare go there Spencer Reid. I will kick your sorry genius ass so hard you won't know which way is which." Garcia orders. "We will find JJ and you will get the chance to tell her. And I know for a fact that she'll say it right back." Reid leans his head back against her chair. "Now let's go and find your girl. Morgan's getting the rest of the phone call from Hotch, and you my fine friend need coffee."


	9. The Others

A/N: Okay, here's another chapter as promised. I know it's short but I should have another one up in a day or so. Happy Reading!

Chapter 9

The Others

Morgan walks into Garcia's office. She is sitting at her computer, looking up the files Rossi asked her too.

"Baby girl." Morgan says, trying to get her attention. She doesn't turn. "Pen… hey, Penelope Garcia, this isn't your fault now turn around and talk to me."

"There are others, Derek." Garcia says. He sits in the chair next to her. "Rossi asked me to see if this guy had done this before. I found two others. Melissa Thompson and Jenny West. They were dumped in front of churches."

"Churches they went to?" Morgan asks.

"No." Garcia says. "One went to church, the other didn't. I think church is his thing, not theirs." Morgan nods. "Morgan, if this is our guy…"

"I know, baby girl. How were they killed?" Morgan asks. Garcia brings up the reports. "Two knife wounds each, both wrists, would have taken time to bleed out."

"Morgan…" Garcia whispers. He pulls her into a hug.

"JJ's strong, that's all you need to know. She sure as hell isn't going down without a fight." Morgan says. Garcia nods. "I've got to go tell the others what you found." He gets up and leaves Garcia staring at the pictures on the screen. She closes them and immediately goes about looking for their families and any place that both women went to.


End file.
